Ronnie O’Sullivan won yet another tournament on Sunday, claiming a fourth consecutive Shanghai Masters, and ‘The Rocket’ shows no signs of letting up as he edges closer to 50.

The Englishman needs just one more World Championship title to beat the record his shares with Stephen Hendry and his current form suggests he can continue to challenge for the top prizes going forward.

O’Sullivan is likely to have an eye on a potential Triple Crown – World Championship, The Masters and UK Championship – starting with the latter, which takes place in York in November.
 

O’Sullivan feeling upbeat on the future

There have been a number of times over the years that O’Sullivan has seemed to have fallen out of love with the sport.

Many would have predicted, at the age of 47, that ‘The Rocket’ may have decided that it was time to call it a day at this stage, with the young guns now targeting him.

But O’Sullivan seems to have got back his desire and his enjoyment, admitting after his 11-9 win over Luca Brecel in China, that it feels ‘an easy game’ when he’s playing well.

The seven-time world champion said: "When you are in the sweet spot and hitting the ball well it feels like an easy game. It feels like you can do what you want on the table. When you aren’t, you get scared of even coming to the table. It is frightening."

He added: "This game can be so difficult some days and others it can be so easy. I’ve gone two or three years without feeling that I’d missed a ball."
 

Big trio target for O’Sullivan

The man from Essex is already one of 11 players to have won all three of the snooker Triple Crown tournaments, but he hasn’t previously achieved all three titles in the same season.

The only three players to have managed that feat are Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Mark Williams – can O’Sullivan join that illustrious group in 2023-24?

The UK Championship is the first of the ‘Big Three’ tournaments, with Snooker’s big names gathering in the city of York, in November.

O’Sullivan has won the UK title on seven occasions – more than any other player in history – and is 9/2 to lift the trophy again at the Barbican in early December.

The Masters will be the next Triple crown event on the agenda, with Alexandra Palace hosting the tournament in January 2024.

‘The Rocket’ has won the Masters title on a record seven occasions, but you have to go back to 2017 for his last success in that event – losing the 2019 final to Judd Trump.

O’Sullivan – who lost to Mark Williams in the quarter-finals this year – is 4/1 to claim his eighth Masters title at the turn of the year.

The 2024 World Championship is the final leg of the Triple Crown and will begin on Saturday, 20th April at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

The 47-year-old has won the sport’s biggest prize twice in the last four years and can be backed at 4/1 to lift the trophy again in 2024.

bet365 also offer a specials market on the ‘number of Triple Crown Wins’ for O’Sullivan in 2023/24, with 80/1 available on world number one winning all three titles.
 

bet365 News Team

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